


Where's My 'Y' For Sympathy

by Therm (Mister_Spock)



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23058238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mister_Spock/pseuds/Therm
Summary: Hawkeye falls for a new nurse, much to Margaret's chagrin.
Relationships: Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan/Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Where's My 'Y' For Sympathy

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this story comes from an episode where Hawkeye and Margaret play double solitaire scrabble. He tells her if she needs a 'y' for sympathy, she can have one of his (letters).
> 
> Additionally, this story I wrote 15 years ago. My writing style has improved and I have left the story as it was, just tidied up the spelling and grammar mistakes I caught.

Major Margaret Houlihan took another gulp of beer from the bottle in front of her. As the liquid slide down her throat, she hoped that it may extinguish the fire that had been burning her for the longest time. A fire of passion it maybe but she sure as Hell wouldn't be admitting that to anyone. She casually glanced their way again.

She'd been watching them for a while now.

The new nurse Lieutenant Rose was sitting literally inches from Captain Hawkeye Pierce as he worked his charm on the naive woman.

She couldn't have been much past twenty-four and if she was, she certainly didn't look it. She had green eyes and blond hair, natural blond, from what Margaret could tell.

She had the urge, the need, to go other to the woman and tell her all about their chief surgeon's history with all the other nurses in camp, she wouldn't be quite so interested in him then.

"Hey, Margaret." Captain BJ Hunnicutt said as he stood next to her and the empty chair at the table. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course," Margaret said, distractedly, but careful not to look at Pierce and Rose any more, at least not while she had company.

"Is that 'Of course I don't mind' or 'Of course I mind'?" BJ asked still hovering.

"Oh, would you sit down already!" Margaret said, gesturing to the chair. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pierce move closer to Rose and instinctively she looked around at the two as they shared a kiss. This was the first time she had seen them kiss and Margaret wondered if there had been many more.

BJ sat down and noticed Margaret's eyes were elsewhere. He followed her gaze to his friend who was busy introducing the new nurse to the way of life here. BJ waited a few minutes for Margaret to speak, but she didn't. She remained silent, watching.

He decided he'd have to start up the conversation.

"She seems nice, Lieutenant Rose. Have you spoke much to her?" BJ asked.

"Not really, Captain Pierce seems to have attached himself to her and it's hard for anyone else to get a look in. I take it she's settling in well, but you're better of asking him than me!" Margaret ranted. She picked up her beer, drunk the remainder of the bottle then slammed it down on the table, gathering a few odd looks. "Excuse me." She said to BJ as she left the room in a hurry.

Margaret passed Colonel Potter on his way in, but she barely said a word to him in her hurry to get away from the Officers club.

The Colonel watched as Margaret stomped off past him. He simply shook his head as he watched her go, before continuing his journey inside.

He saw BJ sitting on his own and joined the young man. BJ noticed the man coming over.

"Hey, colonel. Pull up a chair?" He asked sincerely.

"Sure, let me just get us both a drink." The colonel said, ordering two beers and taking them over to BJ's table.

"What's with Margaret?" Potter asked once he sat down and took a sip of his drink.

"Don't know. I'd only just sat down when she stormed off, ranting about them." BJ said, pointing to Pierce and Rose a few seats away.

"Well, I know she doesn't like people fraternising with her staff, and vice versa, but I thought she'd chilled a little by now. Oh, that woman's a mystery to me, Hunnicutt." Potter said.

"Agreed," BJ said, although he could understand her feeling a little.

Since Lt. Rose had moved here, he'd hardly seen Hawkeye which didn't bother him all that much. He got on with Charles pretty well now, but it wasn't the same.

Hawkeye eased tensions. He did stupid things just for the sake of doing them. He made the war a little lighter. It wasn't as though he were gone, but usually, with a new nurse, Hawkeye would spend a day or two with her before she chucked him out of her tent and knocked back any further advances.

He'd been with the new girl for just over a week.

BJ wondered if this new nurse was being taken for a ride by his friend.

He didn't like to think that a talented young nurse might get hurt by Hawkeye, maybe not intentionally, but hurt nonetheless.

Potter noticed BJ go quite and picked up the questioning lines again. "So, where's Charles? He gonna join us tonight?"

"Er, yeah, I think so," BJ said, trying to concentrate on the conversation again.

"Good. Hopefully, Margaret will come back over, later on, it's still pretty early and I'm sure Klinger said he'd be coming by later too. Father Mulcahy would make the full set but he's gone visiting the orphans."

"Never wastes a day," BJ said, smiling at the thought of the man.

Hawkeye listened carefully to all that Gabrielle Rose told him about her old life in the States before she came out here.

He loved to hear all the stories about home. It may not have been his home town but home was America and that's all that really mattered.

"So tell me about your family, Hawkeye," Gabrielle said.

Hawkeye smiled as he began his story. "Well, I live with my father in Crabapple Cove, Maine. He's also a doctor. He's the only close family I have and he means everything to me. I hate the fact that I can't be there with him now. It's just the fact that he's so alone with just his work and... I miss him. I want to be there in case he needs me for something." The smile had disappeared by the time Hawkeye got to the end of his piece, the thoughts of his dad alone had upset him, that why he didn't keep a picture of him out in the swamp, it just reminded him that he wasn't there to help him if he needed it.

"I'm sure he knows that there's nowhere you'd rather be." She gently placed her hand on top of his.

"Listen to me, killing the conversation. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so... pathetic. My dad's doing great I just..."

"Please don't apologize. You don't have to tell me these things if it upsets you."

"You're incredible, Gabrielle, you know that. I've never wanted to share things with someone the way I do with you." He said.

"I'm very flattered. And please, call me Gaby, Okay?"

"Sorry. You want another drink?" Hawkeye asked her. They'd only had one since they arrived and they'd been here nearly five hours, just talking.

"Yes, please. My mouth is a little dry."

"Tell you what, this place is a little busy with all the drunks. I mean, I'm usually one of them, but I'd much rather talk with you. Come back to the swamp with me?" He asked her.

"You have to answer a question first. Do you have a drink there?" She smiled shyly at him.

"Do I have a drink there? Me and Beej make our own. Do you have taste-bud insurance?"

Gaby laughed at him. "I guess it's gonna be too late after tonight."

Hawkeye smiled at her. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand for her to take. She moved around next to him, noticing a few looks they garnered from some of the others there. She gently placed her hand in his, large, warm hand.

They walked past the table where BJ and Potter sat, now joined by Charles and Klinger, all looking a little worse for wear.

"Hey, Pierce," Potter called out to him before he left. Hawkeye stopped and waited for the CO to continue. "If you see Margaret, tell her to join the party."

"Sure thing, Colonel," Hawkeye said.

Before he could move off, Charles called out.

"Hawkeye," He said. Pierce could tell he was drunk from the use of his nickname, he very rarely called him Hawkeye otherwise. "Don't you two do anything that I wouldn't." He laughed along with the others at the table and a few other people in the room whistled and called out.

"What exactly does that leave then Charles? I mean you got married last time you were drunk." Hawkeye said, loud enough for all to hear. More cheers followed. Hawkeye opened the door for Gaby to go through and quickly adding to a group of nurses near the door he said "Watch it if he starts to buy you drinks. You'll be on your honeymoon tomorrow."

With that Hawkeye left too.

"That was mean, wasn't it?" Gaby said.

"You feel sorry for Charles?" Hawkeye asked her sincerely

"No, but won't he be mad tomorrow?"

"Nah, I doubt he'll even remember it tomorrow. And if he does, I'll just remind him that most people there were also drunk and that they've probably forgotten by now."

"Well, that ought to do it." She said.

When they arrived back at camp, Hawkeye took Gaby to the swamp and poured her a Martini. "Here, that'll have to do for the minute. I just need to go see Margaret and tell her that the Colonel wants to see her."

"Okay." She said, taking a sip of the drink in her hand. "Oh, that's..."

"Horrible." Hawkeye filled in for her. "Wait for me." He said as he left the tent.

~

Hawkeye made his way over to Margaret's tent. He could see the soft, warm glow spilling out making it look warmer than anywhere else at the 4077th.

It was the complete opposite of the swamp, it showed and expressed his and Margaret's difference of opinion more than words ever could.

Being here, in the middle of a rotten war, Margaret had made herself home because she was an Army brat.

To Hawkeye, the swamp was his way of expressing his dislike of the war. The tent he was forced to live in was Army property and he most certainly wasn't an Army man. He didn't care if the swamp was wrecked most of the time because it wasn't his home. His home was in Crabapple Cove with his dad.

He looked at the tent from the outside, looked at this sad tent being Margaret's home and felt sorry for her deep inside. He knocked on the door before opening it stepping inside not waiting for her to invite him in.

Margaret sat at her dressing table and their eyes met in the reflection of the mirror. She made no attempt to look round at Hawkeye. "Can I help you, Captain?" She asked.

Hawkeye moved into the room, letting the door shut quietly behind him. He knew Margaret was upset at something, she'd used his rank in a way of distancing herself from him. She mostly referred to him as either Hawkeye or Pierce these days. He decided to plough on with what he came here for and see how she reacted. "I've been nominated by the CO of this unit to invite you over to the Officer's club for some light, or heavy, refreshments."

"Thank you, but no. I have a few things I want to sort out here." She said. She picked up her hairbrush and began running it through her hair in fluid motions.

"Are you okay?" Hawkeye asked her deciding the direct approach may work best for the moment.

"I'm fine." She replied. "Please make sure you shut the door quietly as you leave," She looked away from him and concentrated even more on brushing her hair.

"Okay," Hawkeye said. Some times it was worth arguing with Margaret and getting her to tell you what was wrong, but he could tell she was going to be stubborn today. He'd see what she was like tomorrow and try again then. "Goodnight Margaret." He said as he opened the door and stepped back outside.

He looked over to his tent and saw Gaby sitting on his cot looking at something in her hands. His mind wondered briefly if he'd left any of his 'specialist' magazines out on display. He knew he didn't have many left, BJ's paternal tendencies seemed to be rubbing off on him. It didn't help when the picture of wholesome Peg and cute little Erin were positioned so they were looking his way, he had ended up throwing most away, only keeping a couple, just in case of an emergency.

The walk across from Margaret's tent to his took a matter of seconds.

He came in and sat down on the chair between his and BJ's bed.

"Did you miss me?" He asked.

"It was the worse two minutes of my life." She joked.

The Martini glass was empty next to the still now and she moved closer to Hawkeye and handed him the object in her hand.

He took it from her, knowing what it was immediately, one of the few things that had real meaning to him here.

It was a worn photograph of his mom in front of the sea.

"Is that you're mom?" She asked gently.

Hawkeye nodded looking at the photo, a smile played across his features, thinking of his family and his home town.

"She's beautiful. I can see you have her eyes and hair." She commented. "Is it pre or post Hawkeye?"

"Actually she's pregnant in the picture. Er, yeah, dad said when they found out they spent a week or so just enjoying themselves, you know before she got too big to do anything. I guess they realized that they may not get so much time together once they had a kid."

"She looks very petite. Is your dad as tall as you?" Gaby asked, trying to judge the questions carefully so she didn't upset Hawkeye.

Hawkeye laughed thinking about that image. "Yeah, she'd of hated that. My dad's a little taller than me, but just before she died I remember I was catching up with her. Dad used to say as soon as puberty hit I'd be passing them both by. Never could beat him though."

Hawkeye looked at the photo for a few minutes longer, before he put it to one side. He looked at Gaby.

"She'd be so proud of you," Gaby said. She slowly lent forward and kissed Hawkeye, a quick, gentle kiss. "Was that alright?"

"Are you kidding me, it was perfect. Just like you." Hawkeye leaned in and returned the favour.

~

"Attention all personnel! We've got wounded. Choppers are here, ambulance on the way."

Hawkeye, BJ and Charles are already sitting up getting dressed before the announcement was over.

"Couldn't have come at a better time, huh?" BJ said, tiredly pulling his boots on to his feet.

"What's wrong, you don't like you're sleep interrupted at 3 am?" Hawkeye asked feeling tired but knowing that both Charles and BJ would feel worse than he did due to the amount of alcohol they had consumed the night before.

"Would you two try to keep it down." Winchester snapped from across the other side of the tent.

"You a little delicate this morning, Charles?" Hawkeye asked.

"And he's not the only one," BJ added. "Have mercy on us. We can't all have dates with new nurses, some of us have to stick to good old drink to be merry."

"I didn't have a date. I was simply getting to know a new member of staff." Hawkeye proclaimed his innocence and for once, was entirely innocent. Okay, so there was a tiny bit of kissing, but nothing like a usual date round here.

"Well then, maybe you won't mind if some of us other doctors get to know her a little better in the OR?" Charles added.

"That's up to Margaret, not me," Hawkeye said, now ready to leave.

"Well then, maybe she should have some different company tonight," Charles said.

"And that's up to Gaby," Hawkeye said, rushing out to meet the wounded that were arriving.

BJ followed closely behind, Charles leaving last. "Hey, don't tell me you like this new nurse, Charles?" BJ asked.

"I wouldn't know, but it's just fun putting Pierce's nose out," Charles said.

"Doctor, over here." One of the nurses called out. Charles rushed towards her and the injured soldier at her feet.

The next few hours would be hell.

Margaret Houlihan had Lt. Rose assist Charles Winchester during surgery. Strangely he had requested her.

Considering that Pierce had hardly seen anyone but Rose since her arrival she decided it would be good for them to spend this session apart.

"How many more have we got out there, Klinger?" Colonel Potter asked his clerk as he carried out one of the wounded soldiers.

"Five more, sir," Klinger answered quickly, as he left the room for post-op.

"Soon to be four, I've finished with this boy, I'm ready for the next," Charles said. He turned to his nurse, "I have to say, you are a wonder to work with, my dear."

"Thank you, doctor," Gaby replied, a little embarrassed. She hardly knew the other nurses here, she didn't want them to dislike her before she even got a chance to talk to them because they thought she was a suck-up to the doctors.

"All our nurses are spot on here, Winchester." Colonel Potter said.

"Of course, Colonel. But Lieutenant Rose here has grace and style to go with it." Charles continued.

BJ looked to Hawkeye to see his response, but he was concentrating hard on his patient. "How are you doing, Hawk?" He asked.

"So-so. There's a hell of a lot of shrapnel in here and some of it's pretty close to this kids spine." Hawkeye said, not looking up once.

"Need help?" Charles asked.

"No. Not yet, anyway." Hawkeye said. "You can carry on flattering the nurses if you like, Charles. I was enjoying it."

"Very well..." Charles began.

"I think Captain Pierce could do with some quiet in here." Margaret Houlihan snapped suddenly. "It's hard enough concentrating without you going on about such nonsense!"

"Cool it, major." Colonel Potter said before Margaret could continue.

"Sorry Colonel. Before I forget Lieutenant Rose, I'd like to see you afterwards." Margaret added, trying to sound calmer.

"Yes, major."

~

Margaret invited Gaby back to her tent, so they could speak privately.

Gaby was nervous but tried hiding it as best she could from her head nurse. She had taken a seat on Major Houlihan's bed and awaited her words.

"I wanted to talk with you, Lieutenant. I think I may need to start with a proper welcome. I know you came to us in the middle of the night during a heavy session in the OR." Margaret sat at her chair, seemingly looking everywhere but at the person she was talking to. "So firstly, on behalf of all the nurses, I'd like to welcome you."

"Thank you, major."

"Now, the next thing isn't quite so easy to say. I know that it can be hard at a new unit, making friends and getting to know people. And sometimes, we get carried away with ourselves."

"Is this about Captain Pierce?" Gaby asked, catching on to what the major was talking about. "Because we're just friends."

"Friends, who kiss?" Margaret responded.

Gaby was taken back. Not just by the line of questioning but also the fact the major knew the truth. Had someone been watching them last night? It was decidedly creepy if it was the head nurse.

"I don't think I have to justify anything I do while I'm not on duty, major. Especially when it's personal."

"I know that's what you think, lieutenant, but you are wrong. A relationship such as this, with a man you have to work with day in, day out, is distracting to both of you. Whether it be a long term relationship or just another fling, it will affect..."

"Sorry, what does 'just another fling' mean?" She got up and moved over to Margaret.

"If you had gotten to know the nurses before Captain Pierce, they would all have warned you about his reputation. He treats all new nurses like this, I'm sorry to say it never lasts."

Gaby Rose stood speechless.

There were no words that could express how she felt right now.

Had Hawkeye been taking advantage of her all this time?

Oh, God, what if he was just trying to get her into bed with him.

Maybe it was he who had told Margaret about them kissing last night, had he been bragging behind her back?

She thought she knew him so well.

She felt sick.

"Please can I go now?" She quietly mumbled.

"Of course. If you need to talk to anyone, I'm here." Margaret said as Gaby headed for the door.

The young nurse ran outside, a hand covering her mouth.

Margaret stood up and went to the door, watching through a gap as she ran across the compound to her tent.

She let the door close and went to her dressing table.

She looked at herself in the mirror as tears ran down her face and blurred her vision.

She threw her hairbrush across the tent as the tears ran down her cheeks.

~

Hawkeye stretched his aching limbs as he and BJ walked back towards the swamp together.

"So you think that kid'll be okay?" BJ asked idly.

"Which one?" Hawkeye said, tiredly. Lack of sleep over the last few nights had caught up with him now and he was starting to crash. He just hoped he could make it to his cot first.

"Kid with all the shrapnel. You were worried because it was close to his spine." BJ ran through the little titbits Hawkeye had given them during OR.

"Oh, yeah, him, yeah. I think he'll be okay. I couldn't see any damage to the spine and unless I missed something he should be okay."

"It's doubtful you missed anything, Hawk, you took good care of him. Luckily we weren't too overrun with wounded." BJ added, opening the door to the swamp.

"Right, gave me the time to take care of him." Hawkeye agreed. He yawned tiredly and loudly. "What time is it?"

" Nearly mid-day."

"Seems later," Hawkeye said as he practically fell onto his bunk. "Night, Beej." He said closing his eyes.

BJ began taking his boots off first. "Night."

~

Charles Winchester had decided to treat himself to a cognac at the Officer's club. He was never quite sure how Pierce and Hunnicutt ended up so much more exhausted then he did after shifts in the OR.

He much preferred to have a few drinks, unwind and then sleep later. Of course, there were times when the shifts would be so long, with so many wounded and the horrific nature of what you saw... those were the times when he'd simply submit himself over to the merciful peace that sleep gave him.

He was surprised when he arrived at the OC to see Lt. Rose there. Alone.

He hoped they could talk, seeing as Pierce was out of the way for now.

She sat at a table alone, looking very lost.

He ordered his drink and took it over to the lady.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you'd like some company?" Charles asked her.

She looked a little surprised at the man standing there but smiled up at him. "It'd be my pleasure." She replied.

Charles sat next to her and looked carefully at her face. Her red eyes were evidence enough that she'd been crying recently. He let the silence sit between them for a while before he dared breach it. "I hope I'm not speaking out of place here, Lieutenant Rose..."

"Gaby."

"...Gaby. I know the things you bare witness to here are frightful and dreadful, to say the least, but you will find a way to get used to what you see here."

"What's your way, major?" She asked quietly.

"Charles. I like to listen to classical music and read masterpieces of prose and poetry. Works of literature that take you a million miles from this... slum."

She smiled at him. "Sound terrific. That's not why I'm upset though."

"You need a friendly ear to unburden yourself?" Charles asked.

"No offence, but I'm not sure you're the best person to ask."

"Try me. I'll be gentle." Charles encouraged.

"It's about Hawkeye." She stopped after that, waiting for Charles to object to talking about him. She was a little surprised when it didn't come.

Charles picked up on her hesitance and spoke. "I'll be impartial." He said.

"Someone kinda said that he's always kind of 'nice' to new nurses."

"Well yes, he's not backwards in coming forwards." Charles agreed, having somewhat missed the point

"Erm, I think it's sweet of you to sit with me, but I think I'd like to be alone right now." Gaby stood up.

"Oh, please don't go, at least let me leave you in peace, you were here first." Charles apologised.

"No, really, it's okay. I was going to go, so... thank you, anyway." Gaby left the Officers club feeling as rotten as when she went in.

~

It was dark when BJ woke up. He looked around the tent to see Hawkeye on his cot writing and he could hear soft snores coming from Charles bunk letting him know he was there without having to look over.

BJ looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly 6:30. "What you writing?" He asked his bunkmate as he sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

Hawkeye had his back to BJ and slowly turned to see his friend. "Just thought I'd better write my dad," Hawkeye responded. "Good sleep?"

"Yeah, could have slept a few more hours though," BJ said, pulling his boots onto his feet.

Hawkeye put the pencil and paper down and turned round properly on his bunk. "How about I buy you a drink?" He said.

"Want me to pour?" BJ asked reaching across to the still.

"No, I mean out of here. Let's go to Rosie's or the Officers club. It'll be a nice change." Hawkeye said.

"Yeah, why not," BJ said. "You think we should wake up Charles and invite him?"

Hawkeye looked across at the man, his mouth opened ever so slightly as he slept. "I think we should take a picture and leave it for all to see."

BJ laughed, that would be fun. "Shame we have no film for the camera. We'll have to stick to drinking."

The Officer's club was closer than Rosie's, so they stopped off there first, deciding they may go to Rosie's later on when they were too drunk to care about the walk.

Inside there were many of the enlisted men and nurses already relaxing for the evening. Some danced together, others sat talking quietly.

"BJ, see if you can get us a table, I'll get the drinks in," Hawkeye told his friend as he headed for the bar.

BJ weaved in and out of the people and found a table that was free. He sat down and awaited Hawkeye's company. It was nice when they just spent a little time together, reminded him of the old days. He guessed he was a different person back then, now he'd seen too many life-changing things to ever be the man he once was. He just hoped that he was still a man Peg would love.

Hawkeye returned after a few minutes, a drink in each hand. "Here." He said as he slid one beer across the table to BJ.

"Thanks," BJ said, picking up the bottle and taking a gulp of it. "So, what was your letter to your dad about, your upcoming marriage?" BJ said, teasing Hawkeye, but also curious as to what his friend would tell him about his relationship with nurse Rose.

Hawkeye frowned a little at BJ's choice of words. "Why would you say that?" He asked,

"Well, come on Hawk, everyone's seen you two together these last few days," BJ said.

"I'm not with her now," Hawkeye said, feeling a little defensive about the whole situation.

"Yeah, I know. But what about later?" BJ said, sounding reasonable, he didn't want to get into an argument about it.

"Look, I've made no plans with her. She's a nice girl and I like to get to know new people. Doesn't mean anything." Hawkeye didn't sound too confident when he spoke the final words.

It was BJ's turn to frown at the words coming from his friend's mouth. "Are you really saying that your just friends?" BJ asked. He couldn't believe that was all there was between them.

"I don't know," Hawkeye said, letting out a loud sigh. "I really do like her, but she's so young and innocent. I don't wanna spoil her." Hawkeye admitted quietly.

"Hawk, you're not gonna spoil her. Besides, she old enough to make her own decisions. You're hardly leading her astray." BJ said. He picked up his bottle and drank a little more while Hawkeye mulled over what BJ had said.

"Oh, I don't know..." Hawkeye started but cut himself short when he saw Margaret walk through the door. She looked about as happy as he felt, although he wasn't sure why she should be feeling down. He turned his attention back to BJ and continued speaking. "The other night when you guys were all here, we spent an amazing night at the swamp. just talking. But after that, we kissed. It was... amazing and special, but, I just kept thinking about... Margaret."

"Margaret?" BJ asked confused.

The head nurse had joined them, standing behind BJ. "What?" She said.

"Oh... no, sorry, Margaret. Wanna sit down?" BJ asked, exchanging a glance with Hawkeye at the surprise interruption. He wondered what the end of Hawk's sentence was going to be.

Margaret sat with them but felt out of place now the conversation had gone dead in her presence. "You can carry on talking you know." She said.

"It's boys stuff," BJ said.

"So, I take it you're not too busy to be here with us tonight," Hawkeye said, referring to the night before when Margaret had snubbed the colonels invite to be alone in her tent.

"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here." She replied back to Hawkeye but barely looking at him.

BJ picked up on the tension between them and decided to try to lighten the conversation up again. "Hey Margaret, you should have seen Charles when we left him. He looked like a little kid asleep. Mouth hanging open, snoring." BJ laughed a little falsely under the illusion that there was great amusement around him. They apparently didn't share his sense of amusement.

"Oh good, Charles is here," Margaret said as she saw the Major walk into the room. Margaret gestured for him to join them.

"There goes our peace and quiet," BJ said as Charles made his way over to them, pulling up a chair and sitting as the others continued talking.

"No, the peace went when Margaret joined us," Hawkeye said to BJ ignoring Margaret still.

"Why don't you tell Charles that hilarious story you just told me, Hunnicutt," Margaret said, her voice raising a little. She had decided to simply ignore Pierce completely.

"What story?" Charles asked curiously.

"It's a good one, you're the main character," BJ stated.

"It's about you snoring, Charles," Hawkeye said, cutting straight to the point.

"And the way your mouth hangs open, don't forget that," BJ added. "There may even have been dribble once we left, who knows."

"How dare you! I do not snore and I defiantly don't dribble!" Charles sounded outraged by the accusation.

Hawkeye was about to reply to Charles when he saw Gaby Rose walk in and head to the bar. He was planning to call her over to join them, but she didn't look around. "Excuse me, I'm gonna join the civilized world," Hawkeye said getting up.

"Thanks, Hawk," BJ said, both at the comment and for leaving him with two arguing Majors.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean you," Hawkeye said quickly before leaving BJ for the company of another.

"Oh, it's her again," Margaret said bitterly seeing who had made Hawkeye leave the table.

"Actually, she was here earlier. She seemed very upset. Talked about Pierce a bit but she left after a few minutes." Charles said. "Maybe they've had a lovers tiff." He mocked a little.

"Oh, Charles grow up will you," BJ said sternly.

Hawkeye sat down on the stool next to Gaby. She didn't look at him. "Hey there." He said.

She turned to look at him. She didn't smile when she looked at him. "Should have guessed I'd find you here." She said, her words sounding cold and detached.

"Well, it does have the best supply of Martinis. The still is not cut out for the quantity we consume a day." He said trying to lighten her mood. Ha assumed her current mood was due to the shift in OR.

"You shouldn't drink so much. It's not good for you." She replied softly but still with no emotion.

"Are you okay? Has something happened?" Hawkeye asked concern for her was the only thing on his mind right now.

"No, nothing happened. 'Am I alright?' No. I'm really not." She started slowly speaking each word carefully. "I got to know some of the nurses today."

"Is that bad?" Hawkeye asked, confused by what she was saying.

"It's bad because I found out about you!" She said, her voice finally coming alive in emotion. "You and your ways. Most of the nurses seem to know you pretty well, inside and out!" Her voice was rising in volume as the anger she was feeling finally had somewhere to go. Especially good as it was the person who was responsible for her feeling like this.

Hawkeye didn't know what to say to her. He knew he couldn't deny that it was true, but to not say anything seemed to be like admitting he had done something wrong. "Look... I..."

"Don't. You can't make it better by a few cheap words that you churn out time after time." Gaby said, standing up and heading out.

Hawkeye immediately followed her outside as she headed back to camp.

"Look, I admit I've always been friendly with the nurses, but that doesn't mean that everything I've said to you hasn't been genuine."

"Oh, do I look like I was born yesterday!" She exclaimed madly at him. "The worse thing is I really liked you."

"Come on, don't do this. I can prove to you that what you've heard is what I was once like. I've changed. I swear it. I really do care for you."

Gaby stopped her fast-paced walk and looked at Hawkeye. "I cared for you too, Hawkeye. But I don't want to get hurt."

"I don't want to hurt you... I-I've hardly slept after we've spent the day talking because I'm still thinking about what we've talked about. I see you enter a room and I can't help but go to you."

"These are all just words, Hawkeye. I can do that too. Say sweet things and pretend they mean something, but they don't."

"You don't know that." He insisted firmly.

"I do. I've seen your type before. Margaret was right about you." With that she began walking again, this time leaving him behind her.

Hawkeye was too stunned by everything that Gaby had just said to him to follow and try to make things up to her. She'd called him a 'type' of person, like there, was some weird disease he had.

What hurt him more was the fact that she said Margaret had said some of the bad things about him.

He turned around and headed back to the officers club.

"Where's Margaret?" Hawkeye asked as he approached the table where BJ and Charles still sat.

"I don't know," BJ said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hawkeye lied, knowing that he was not even covering his anger.

"Where's Gaby?" Charles asked.

"Back at the camp," Hawkeye said as he turned around and left again.

BJ watched him go before he got up too.

"Where are you going?" Charles asked as he was left on his own.

"Some thing's wrong, You coming?"

Hawkeye made his way to Rosie's bar. He had decided that Margaret had to be here as she certainly hadn't passed by him on her way back to camp.

When he entered Rosie's he didn't see Colonel Potter and Father Mulcahy at one of the tables. He only saw Hotlips. He stood next to her, towering over her as she sat on the stool at the bar.

His mind racing with a hundred questions he wanted answers for right there and then, he didn't even think what he was going to say, the words just came out. "What did you say to her?" He asked.

Margaret looked at him but didn't respond to him. She turned in her chair so she faced him. "What?" She said.

"Nurse Rose, what have you said to her?"

"Oh, that's what you're talking about." She said dismissively, turning back round in her chair as if the conversation no longer interested her.

"That was a question, Margaret. Tell me what you said to her?" Hawkeye demanded angrily.

"Look, Pierce, I just told her what everyone here knows. The poor girl shouldn't be humiliated like so many others have." Margaret fired back at him,

BJ and Charles both entered the room and quietly stood by the door.

"Tell me exactly. What words did you use?" He said. Most of the room had gone quiet with the noise from the pair of them.

"I told her that you're always like this with the new nurses, you treat them all like bits of meat. That you have a fling with them and discard them afterwards. That whatever you promise them you end up breaking that promise and that your relationships never last." Margaret finished up, speaking just as loudly as he was without actually shouting.

Hawkeye said nothing for a minute, he just stared at her. She looked away under his scrutiny. "You're something else, you know that. Do you hold me up against a chart of your personal life to judge me? Frank Burns, Donald, Scully, every bit of brass in Korea. All's fair with Hotlips as long as you outrank her, right?"

"Exactly! That's why I'd never be seen with someone like you!" She shot back.

Colonel Potter had seen enough. He stood up to put an end to this.

"I was okay when your marriage was falling apart. Is that so you could blame the break up of your marriage on someone else other than yourself?"

Margaret looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Her hand reacted before her mind processed whether or not it was a good idea. "How dare you!" She yelled as she slapped him hard across the face, and several people in the room gasped at her actions.

She moved her hand to strike again but someone grabbed her wrist before she hit him again. She looked and saw Colonel Potter had hold of her.

BJ and Charles seemed to suddenly appear, BJ grabbing hold of Hawkeye and pulling him away from Margaret. The two didn't take their eyes off one another.

Hawkeye struggled free off BJ's grip before leaving Rosie's bar without another word.

Margaret felt her face redden with everyone was looking at her. "I want to go." She whispered quietly to the Colonel standing on her right-hand side. He nodded not saying a word to her.

"BJ, can you make sure Pierce is looked after." He spoke softly to the surgeon who stood slightly dumbfounded by events. He nodded and headed out, Charles again following him.

People began to quietly talk again, mainly about what they'd just witnessed.

"I'll go see if the coast is clear." Father Mulcahy volunteered heading for the door.

Margaret looked at Colonel Potter with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

~

Nurses Kelleye and Bigelow both entered the nurses quarters together talking about the fun they'd had that night. They both carried a cup of coffee that they'd picked up at the mess tent.

"...I just can't believe you didn't want to dance with him!" Said nurse Kelleye, laughing at the memory. She sat on her bed letting her aching feet rest for a while.

"Did you have a nice night?" Bigelow asked Rose.

"Oh, I stayed in mostly. I went to the officers club for a little while, but... I didn't stay." Her voice sounded sad and Kelleye and Bigelow picked up on it but didn't comment.

"Well, you're coming with us next time we go to Rosie's," Kelleye said firmly. "Have you been yet?"

"No, Hawkeye said he'd take me but..."

"Hasn't got round to it yet, right?" Bigelow said.

"Something like that, yeah."

The door opened as a forth nurse entered the tent. Nurse Abel sat on the bunk next to Kelleye. "You guys left too early, you missed all the fun tonight." She said

"Not another drunken fight," Bigelow said, tired of the constant fist-fights they had there.

"Well, not exactly. I didn't catch it all 'cause I was at the back, but Hawkeye and Major Houlihan had a huge fight. Really laying into each other." Abel told them, now being the centre of attention in the small tent.

"Well, why? What did they say?" Kelleye asked curiously. She'd always liked Hawkeye, both professionally and personally. They weren't exactly compatible in any other way, but at least when Hawkeye realized that Kelleye had feelings for him, he made an effort. She had a soft spot for his for that alone. Major Houlihan, on the other hand, was much more professional and didn't ever seem to get too friendly with the nurses. She was better than she once was, but still not a person you could take your problems to.

"Oh, I don't know what it was about, but it got real personal. She was saying about his way with the nurses, he hit back with how she slept with all the generals. It was pretty nasty. Anyway, when he said that to her, she slapped him."

The nurses all looked as shocked as each other, not believing what they'd heard.

"Are you serious?" Bigelow asked.

"Oh, yeah. She went to take a second shot at him too, but Colonel Potter was there and he stopped her. Well, Hawkeye stormed outta there with BJ and Winchester after him and then Margaret sloped off with the Colonel and Father Mulcahy. I couldn't believe it. Nearly everyone left after that."

"I'm on a shift with Major Houlihan tomorrow, Hope she's in a better mood," Bigelow said softly.

"Are you kidding, she'll be in a foul mood after that," Abel said.

"I always thought those two got on quite well," Kelleye said a little sadly.

"Not any more I guess," Bigelow said. It didn't surprise her too much. She'd seen it all so many times. Friends turn on each other because of the stress they were under from this damn war. It made her sick when she first noticed it. She was indifferent to it now.

"They've always been like that. Sniping at one another one minute and then closest friends the next." Abel agreed.

Gaby stood up and moved to the door to leave.

"Where are you going?" Kelleye asked her.

"I need to talk to someone." She said, then left the three women behind her.

~

BJ and Hawkeye sat in the swamp, BJ watching Hawkeye carefully, waiting to see when he'd be ready to talk.

Charles had waited until Hawkeye had calmed down and BJ had him in the swamp before he disappeared. He'd been a good friend tonight to both of them and BJ would remember that.

Hawkeye let out a loud sigh as he moved from the chair to his cot and laid down. "You know, this morning everything was normal. Now, I don't know what the hell's happened." He said quietly.

BJ moved from his cot onto the chair that Hawkeye had just vacated. "Let's start at the beginning and try to make sense of it all. Did you talk to Gaby about what we were talking about?"

Hawkeye looked a little confused for a moment or two before he caught on to what BJ meant. "Oh... about er, ruining things for her, no, no. I didn't speak to her at all, not until we were at the Officer's club and she turned up. But she brushed me off straight away. I thought maybe she'd had a rough time in OR, but she was just really distant."

"For no reason at all?" BJ said.

Hawkeye suddenly seemed to get very mad again. "No, I'll tell you why, because of Margaret!" He stood up and started moving around the tent.

"How do you know it was Margaret?" BJ asked

"Because that's what she said. She didn't even deny it at Rosie's. She told her that I was some cheating, dirty old man." Hawkeye sat down heavily on his cot almost like he'd been deflated. "Maybe it was for the best. I guess she just told her the truth, right?"

"No, it wasn't fair for her to say those things," BJ reassured. Hawkeye always made a good show of his self-confidence, but like most people underneath it all was a very insecure person. "If Gaby's smart she'll make up her own mind, not listen to idle gossip."

"I think she's already made up her mind. You know why I was so bothered about hurting her was because I felt something different about her. I don't know if it's love, but a strong bond at least. Doesn't take much to ruin things, does it?"

There was suddenly a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Gaby Rose walked nervously into the tent, looking at her surroundings.

"Please sit down." Father Mulcahy said, indicating to the chair just inside the door.

"Thank you, father." She said. "I'm sorry to come by at this time of night."

"Oh, don't be sorry. My door's open all hours of the day and night." He said. He moved over to the other chair in his room and sat down. "Now, how can I help you?"

"I have a problem and I didn't know who to go to, I don't know many people here yet. I guess it may not be something that you can help with."

"Well, you can give me a try. I'll be as helpful as I can."

"Um, well, I guess it started when I first arrived here. I made a very special friend and I've been told that the person has a reputation. I don't want to ruin things for myself here, I like it here and I care a lot for this person. I've noticed that there have been some strained relationships since I got here. I don't know what to do about it, Father."

"I can see that this could be quite a dilemma. It's never easy being new to a place like this. The best advice I can give you is to follow your heart. If it makes you happy and it feels right, let it lead you to the right path. I know it's not much help, but sometimes it's the best thing we can do."

"Gut instincts," Gaby repeated to herself, finding strange comfort in the words.

Margaret hand shakily gripped the glass of scotch in front of her and she drank it straight down. She placed the glass back on the desk and sat quietly.

Colonel Potter sat on the other side of the desk observing the young nurse.

"Well, Margaret, do you feel like telling me what happened at Rosie's tonight?" He asked. Although he'd been there, he'd only seen what had happened after it really kicked off. The cause of it was his main concern.

"I'm not sure myself, Colonel," Margaret replied quietly.

"Give it your best shot." He encouraged. When she didn't speak, he picked up the bottle of scotch and poured himself a drink. "You know, I can think of a hundred reasons why you and Pierce would fight, but I can't think why you'd ever hit him, major." He emptied his glass and refilled it automatically.

"I think I'm a little tired," Margaret said, not sure why she really reacted the way she did.

"I don't buy that, Major. I tell you what. Go back to your tent, have a good sleep. Maybe tomorrow, you won't be so tired that you forget what you've done."

"Yes, sir." She stood up and went to the door. Before leaving she looked around at the man sitting there. Holding onto her emotions as much as she could. "I really am sorry." She whispered.

"I know you are." He replied as she left the room.

~

Colonel Potter left his office and was heading towards his tent when he saw a lone figure in the mess tent.

He headed over there and joined the only soul in there. He picked up a cup and filled in with coffee as he sat down.

"Tough night." Colonel Potter said.

Charles nodded his head in agreement. "Going to be a long one too I think." He added.

"Where is he, the swamp?"

"Yes. He wasn't happy at all. He calmed down a bit before I left him with Hunnicutt." Charles added.

"He's in good hands. Not sure what to do with Margaret, though." Potter said. "She goes back a long way with Hawkeye. This may sound unfair, but if they stay at a stand-off, she'll be the one who loses out."

"How do you mean?" Charles asked confused by what Potter was getting at.

"Well, Margaret by her very nature is a tough lady. She's always been tough on people and can be extremely hard to get on with. If it comes down to popularity, she'll lose. I'm not implying she's friendless but that the army girl in her will come out and she'll push everyone away. She's come a long way. Be a real shame for her to throw all she's done away for a fight with Pierce."

"Especially as he seems to be one of the most influential aspects in making her change her ways. Maybe I could talk to her tomorrow." Charles ventured. "I think that given the circumstances maybe someone close to Pierce, such as yourself, will only make her dig her heel in more."

"Good point, but I hate to seem like I'm taking sides in this. I better go see if Hawkeye's alright too. Don't want him to think the worse. Get some sleep soon, Major."

"Yes, colonel. You too."

Colonel Potter knocked at the door before entering the swamp. Hawkeye seemed to tense up just from looking at him.

He was still mad as heck and it looked as if poor BJ wouldn't get much sleep either.

"Mind if I take a seat? He asked.

"Sure thing, Colonel," BJ answered. He poured himself a Martini and offered one to the colonel, who declined the offer. Hawkeye wasn't drinking either.

"So, you have any idea what happened at Rosie's bar tonight?" He asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Hawkeye said rubbing a hand across his face. He felt tired to his very core. "I don't even wanna think about it. Every time I think about it, it still makes no sense and it's driving me crazy." He said, frustrated.

"You should get some sleep, son. You look like you could use it." Potter said, sympathetically.

"Wish it were that easy," Hawkeye said. He stood up and stretched before going to the door.

"Where are you going?" BJ asked, getting up to.

"The VIP tent. I won't be getting any sleep tonight but that doesn't mean that you and Charles shouldn't." With that, he left, ignoring BJ when he called after him.

BJ and the Colonel watched him as he opened the door to the mess tent and told Charles to go home, before making his way to the VIP tent.

BJ sat back down again.

"You get anything out of him?" Potter asked.

"I think he's in love," BJ replied.

~

Margaret was a little startled when she heard the knock at the door. She didn't want to answer looking like she did. She knew her eyes were red and her face blotchy from crying earlier. She knew she had to answer it, it could be important.

When she opened the door, she gave a little gasp of surprise because she really hadn't expected it to be him. Hawkeye.

"Come in." She said her voice quieter and weaker than she would have liked.

He entered not saying a word, but he looked at her. "I needed to talk to you." He said. "I've been thinking."

She swallowed hard, trying to keep hold of her self and not just to shout out what she'd been longing to say.

"I don't know where all these feelings and emotions have come from over the last few days, but I can't deny that they aren't here." He said, standing still, almost as if he were afraid to move.

"I-I know I haven't dealt with things very well the last few days. I'm very sorry for the way I spoke to you at Rosie's. I acted that way because..."

"Why, Margaret?" Hawkeye interrupted, stepping closer to her. "Tell me why you acted like that." He didn't sound angry with her.

"It was because of these feelings I have. Feelings of... love." She spoke carefully when saying the last word as if it could trigger some angry backlash her way.

Hawkeye swallowed and looked away. When he looked back at her, there were tears in his eyes as he moved forward and embraced her in his arms and their mouths met for a sensual, passionate kiss.

A knock at the door and the dream ended.

~

"Come," she said tiredly.

After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours she had finally managed to drift off and was in the middle of what could only be described as a very exciting dream when she was woken by the knocking at her door. She quickly pulled the covers up to make she was covered up properly, knowing it could be anyone knocking at this time of night.

The door opened and Corporal Klinger entered, looking as tired as she felt. "Sorry to disturb you this time of night Major, but there's a phone call for you."

"Do you know who it's from?" She asked.

"No, Ma'am." He answered.

"Okay, I'll just get decent." She said, pulling the covers back and sliding her feet into her slippers.

"I'll be just outside when you're ready," Klinger said, giving her some privacy.

She appreciated it but didn't tell him so. She felt too tired after the long day she'd had and now she was disturbed from her sleep for a phone call. It may be true that they were regularly woken here for incoming wounded but this was different. When it was announced over the PA system that the wounded were on there way, the adrenaline just kicked in and you didn't even think about how tired you were.

Margaret quickly threw her robe around her and went outside to see who was waiting to speak to her.

Klinger entered the tent where the C.O was sleeping soundly. He always hated waking people up in the middle of the night, but he knew someone had to do it.

He lightly tapped Colonel Potter on the shoulder. "Sir, I need to speak to you," he said. "Major Houlihan is in your office and needs to speak to you immediately."

"Is it important? Can't it wait 'til morning?" Potter asked, turning round to look at Klinger.

"It's very important, sir," Klinger said.

"Okay, I'm coming."

Hawkeye was surprised when Klinger started to shake him and was telling him to get up.

He was most surprised he'd managed to sleep. He was then surprised when he didn't immediately remember that he'd moved to the VIP tent for the night.

"What is it, Klinger?" he asked.

"Colonel Potter wants you in his office for a meeting with all the other officers," Klinger said, explaining the situation, not for the first time.

"A meeting? What time is it?"

"8 am, sir," Klinger responded. "Colonel says, as quick as you can."

Hawkeye was glad he wasn't the last one to enter the office. Charles and BJ were both still missing, as was Klinger.

Already seated were Father Mulcahy and the Colonel himself.

"Morning Hawkeye," Mulcahy said when Hawkeye sat down next to him.

"Morning."

Potter looked up from some paperwork in front of him at Pierce. "Get some sleep?"

"Yeah," Hawkeye replied. He still felt half asleep even though he had got more rest than he thought he would but couldn't quite manage conversation without a large coffee intake.

The three men stayed silent until the others arrived. Once they were all seated, Colonel Potter began.

"Sorry to have you all here so early. Klinger received a call last night for Margaret. Her father was taken poorly in Tokyo and she's gone to spend some time with him." He said seriously.

"Do we know what's wrong?" Charles asked the first to find his voice.

"I think they suspect a heart attack."

"Serious?" Hawkeye added.

"Not sure. Details were sketchy. I'm not sure how much Margaret was told, but she was in quite a state when I got here. I got Sgt. Zale to take her."

The group was very quiet, all wrapped up in their own thoughts, each thinking of their own loved ones and thankful that it wasn't them who had to suffer this tragedy.

"Well, that's all. You're all free to go. If you need to talk, you know where I am." Potter said.

The group slowly got up and left the room. Once outside they all went their separate ways.

Hawkeye stood outside the door not moving anywhere.

BJ stayed there too, waiting to see what he would do. After a few moments of nothing, he spoke. "You wanna come to the mess tent and try to force something down?"

Hawkeye looked at BJ, "No, I think I want to finish that letter to my dad." He said as he started to walk towards the swamp.

"Sounds like a good idea," BJ said, thinking of Peg and even more about Erin. He couldn't imagine what Margaret was going through, but he hated to think that his baby might have to go through something like that while he was here. You just could never be sure what was around the next corner.

~

When Gaby Rose heard that Margaret Houlihan would be away for a while, she couldn't help but be a little happy.

The rumour going around at the moment was that Margaret had been sent for a break because of the fight she had with Hawkeye at Rosie's.

That was another reason she was grateful that she was out of her hair. It now gave her a chance to talk properly with Hawkeye.

She had hoped that while she sat there, in the mess tent, he would come in for breakfast, but had yet to appear. She wouldn't be at all surprised if he didn't drop in, he didn't look like he ate enough.

She decided that she'd pay him a visit at the swamp and hope that his bunkmates weren't also there.

Before she got to the tent, she could see Hunnicutt sitting on his cot. Both of them were writing. She moved to the side of the tent nearest Hawkeye and looked through to him. "Hey," she spoke softly to him, startling him a little. "You wanna come for a walk?"

Hawkeye smiled at her, glad she seemed to be talking to him again. "Just give me a minute to finish off my letter," he said, "you can come in and wait if you like."

She came into the tent and sat on Hawkeye's cot and waited while he finished up. He didn't have much left to do, he'd already finished the letter and was just addressing the envelope. She felt as though someone was watching her and looked to see BJ watching her. He didn't say anything but smiled a little at her, before turning back to his letter.

Hawkeye sealed the letter before turning to Gaby. "Okay, I'm all done here."

She stood up. "Let's get going then," she said before turning back around to BJ. "Goodbye." She said.

"Bye." He said. He watched the two walk away together.

"I think I got a little upset the other day over nothing," Gaby said to him as they say in a secluded spot away from camp. Somewhere Hawkeye had taken many of his dates before.

"Well, look, I can understand that. I guess I do have a reputation and I shouldn't have gotten mad a Margaret because of it." He said simply, smiling at her.

"Yeah, I just wonder why she said that to me," Gaby said.

"What do you mean?" Hawkeye said, leaning back so he was resting on his elbows.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just the way she said about you and the nurses." Gaby continued. She moved so she could lay along next to Hawkeye, they were just inches away from one another.

"Maybe she just thought you should be warned about me. Besides, I'm not giving it another thought. What's done is done. The important thing is, we're here, together, alone..." Hawkeye carefully moved closed to Gaby and kissed her. She didn't kiss him back so he pulled away. "Sorry." He apologised to her.

"No, I'm sorry, it's just... oh, it doesn't matter," Gaby said, sighing softly and looking away from Hawkeye.

"Tell me, what is it?"

"Oh, damn, she's not even here and she's spoiling things for us!" Gaby said angrily.

"Margaret again?" Hawkeye asked a little surprised as to how much the head nurse upset Gaby. He'd been the one who'd been shouted at and slapped by Margaret and he'd managed to forgive her.

"I'm sorry, but when I think of how close she came to ruining things for us," Gaby said reaching for Hawkeye's hand.

"Us?" Hawkeye repeated starting to see where she was coming from. "Look, er, Gaby I really enjoy spending time with you. I haven't met someone like you in a long time, but I also realised the other night that there can never be more between us than... this." Hawkeye waited to see how she reacted.

"This? Coming out here in the middle of a war. Oh, God! This is where you bring all the other nurses isn't it?" Gaby said, feeling angry at Hawkeye.

"I'm sorry you thought this was something different, but I told you how I felt last night. You turned your back on me, remember?" Hawkeye said defending himself. It had been true the things he'd told BJ about Gaby, but she didn't trust him and that had hurt.

"That's beside the point! I came to you this morning to forgive you..." Gaby began.

"Forgive me! I'm not asking for your forgiveness, I did nothing wrong. You heard something and took it for gospel. I talk to you and get ignored, I talk to Margaret and get slapped. This is probably one of the few times in my life when I haven't been to blame for what's happening around me." He told her calmly but firmly.

Gaby stood up and brushed herself down. "You know your problem, Captain Pierce? You don't know a good thing when you've got it." She turned away and rushed back to camp alone.

Hawkeye watched her go, his mind racing with what she'd just said to him. She was right, he had a good thing and had done nothing about it.

He laid back in the grass and started to think of ways he could make it up to her.

~

"Where's BJ?" Hawkeye asked as he entered the swamp to see Charles in the tent alone, reading a book.

"I believe he offered to do a supply check for the colonel," Charles answered, not once lifting his eyes up from the pages in front of him.

"Oh." Was all Hawkeye could say, quietly as he sat on his cot, looking for something to do while waiting for his best friend to return. He needed to talk some things through with a sensible person, someone who didn't tell him what he wanted to hear, someone who told him the truth.

"Anything I can help with, Pierce?" Charles asked, still with book in front of his face.

"No," Hawkeye said, sounding sterner than he meant to.

"Suit yourself," Charles replied.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, Charles." Hawkeye apologized. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, but the will to talk one out and he decided that he could at least get Charles' opinion of things as well as BJ's. "What do you think of nurse Rose?" He asked.

Charles looked at Hawkeye before laying the book down on his lap. "I think she's a very intelligent, sweet woman. And, she's obviously gone crazy at some point as she seems to be infatuated with you."

"Okay, what was I thinking of talking to you. If I want an intelligent person opinion I'll go talk to someone a little more sophisticated, like Zale or Igor." Hawkeye stood up to leave, but Charles raised his hand and motioned for him to sit, which Hawkeye didn't take kindly too, so he remained standing.

"Pierce, I meant everything I said, except the crazy bit," Charles said.

Hawkeye sat back down on his cot. He sighed loudly and didn't say anything for a few moments. "I don't know but I think I kinda screwed things up with her tonight."

"Why, what did you do?" Charles asked. He wasn't that interested in what had happened between the two but when Hawkeye was in one of his more serious moods, like now, he was easier to contend with than when he was acting like a juvenile.

"Well, we had a little time together and, er... she was saying about how close Margaret came to ruining things between us. I guess I objected to her blaming things on Margaret and to implying that 'we' were an 'us'." Hawkeye explained.

"I take it you don't want it to be 'us' than?" Charles queried.

"I thought I did. It's just before Margaret and I had that fight at Rosie's she was pretty insistent that things were over for us. I guess I got annoyed because she believed what she heard. Next thing you know she's telling me she forgives me. Like I need her to forgive me!"

"I don't understand. You like her, she likes you. You have a minor disagreement, she wants to stay friends and you're not interested? Why not?" Charles asked. It seemed to him that Hawkeye was always keen to be in with the nurses so they could at least go on 'dates' together, but here he was throwing things away with nurse Rose for no good reason.

"That's kinda got me stumped too. Maybe I'm being paranoid about this, but she seemed to imply heavily that what happened was Margaret's fault."

"Well, she does appear to be the one that told her everything about you," Charles added.

"I know, but it was all true. She just let her know what she was getting into. How can I be mad at that?" Hawkeye asked.

"Pierce, you know what you need to do? Stop thinking this through so much. Apologize to nurse Rose and set up a new date."

"But what about the thing with Margaret?" He asked, referring to Gaby's attitude to the head nurse.

"They're grown women, they can sort themselves out," Charles said.

~

Charles had left Pierce to sort himself out. Besides, he knew Hunnicutt should be finished soon and then he'd have to listen to the story again.

He made his way to the mess tent and after grabbing himself some questionable lunch, he searched for a seat with some appropriate company. He smiled to himself when he saw her sitting there, the woman he'd just spent the last few minutes talking about was here, all alone at a table. He went straight over to her.

"Mind if I join you?" Charles asked.

"Of course not," Gaby said, smiling sweetly at him. She had an empty tray in front of her and was just sitting there, drinking a coffee.

"It's nice to have some different company. The company you're in, I find, makes the food more or less appealing. I feel I'll be able to eat a whole meal today."

"Why, you're very sweet, major." She replied, "But I feel I should remind you that I am seeing your tent mate."

"Oh... I got the impression from a conversation I had with him that you two had a disagreement." Charles was getting curious as to was really going on between Pierce and Rose.

"It was nothing much. I couldn't stay mad at him for long." She said. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's in the swamp, well, he was," Charles said.

"I best go talk to him. Poor guy's probably worried sick that we're gonna split up." Gaby stood up to leave.

"Your company has been most interesting," Charles said.

"Thank you. You're a true gentleman, major." Gaby walked from the mess tent and Charles watched as she made her way to the swamp.

Once she was out of view, he also left and made his way to the supply tent.

He found BJ immediately. BJ briefly looked round to see who had entered, but was in mid-count so he did n't say anything until he had finished.

"Come to help?" BJ asked.

"No, not really," Charles said honestly. I wanted to talk to you about Pierce."

"Is he okay?" BJ asked looking a little alarmed.

"He's fine. I meant more about his relationship with the new nurse Rose. I've just heard two very different accounts about what's going on between them."

"Explain, Charles?" BJ asked a little confused.

"Pierce told me they had just had an argument and he wasn't sure what to do about things with her, that she wanted a more serious relationship than he did. She just said they'd had a slight disagreement. She then went over to the swamp to reassure him that he needn't worry about their relationship breaking up."

"I can't really see what the big deal here is Charles. He already spoke to me about this, he wasn't sure about how serious he wanted the relationship to be and he's probably sent her mixed signals." BJ explained.

"You don't think there's something strange about her?" Charles asked.

"Yeah, I do. I think she's scared of this place and the people. Margaret's already decided she doesn't like the woman, she's just insecure."

"Yes, I'm sure you're right. I'll have to try to reassure her a little." Charles said. He could see why Pierce liked to bring his problems to Hunnicutt, he seemed to see things for what they really were.

BJ returned to the supplies in front of him. "Much left to do?" Charles asked.

"Not really," BJ replied.

Charles sighed quietly. "Can I help at all?"

BJ smiled at the surgeon next to him. "There's always room for one more."

~

Hawkeye was laying on his cot, eyes closed when Gaby entered the swamp. Assuming it was Charles returning from the mess tent, he kept his eyes shut.

He felt the side of his cot dip slightly as someone sat by his side and then felt a hand rest on his thigh, "Come on Charles, I'm not in the mood." He said as he opened his eyes to see Gaby very, very close to him.

He smiled at her a little nervously as she leant in and kissed him.

She broke the kiss off and sat back and looked down at him. "You're so silly," she said "Thinking that I'd just go off and leave you. Do you believe in fate, Hawkeye?"

"I, er, don't really believe in that kinda stuff," he said, sitting up more so he could distance himself from her.

"Well, I do. I believe fate made us meet each other."

"Hey, hang on a minute. Is this some kind of set up? Did the nurses put you up to this?" Hawkeye smiled broadly, then laughed a little to himself. "It's brilliant. You act really possessive to freak me out. It's genius. Who's idea was it?" Hawkeye said, knowing how underhanded the nurses could be at times.

"Hawkeye, you don't have to pretend with me. I know you. I love you."

"Come on, Gaby, really. Was it Margaret? You can stop with the psycho act."

It was somewhere in the next few seconds of saying this, Hawkeye realized that it wasn't an act.

"I can't believe you don't think my feeling for you are real!" Gaby said to him, her voice hollow in a very displaced sort of way. She was walking away from the camp, Hawkeye following her.

He realized that Gaby really did believe everything she said to him and now he'd enraged her. He was going to attempt to bring her back to the camp, calm her down and then inform Colonel Potter he had a raving loony as a nurse. He couldn't believe that this woman had been so normal when she first arrived, especially as he'd spent more time with her than anyone else. She brought a new definition to the term split personality.

"It's not that, it's just that sometimes we all play tricks on each other like that," Hawkeye explained.

"And people get hurt!" She screamed at him. Hot tears ran down her face as she continued to try to leave him behind.

"Look, please just stop walking away. Let's talk, okay?"

"I don't wanna stop here," Gaby said, continuing her stomp away from camp. "You can talk as you walk can't you?"

"Yes but, I wanted to talk to you properly."

Gaby stopped suddenly. "Fine. Talk to me. Explain to me why you made me look an idiot in front of everyone!"

"I didn't make you look an idiot, no one thinks you're an idiot either. Please, just come back to the camp with me and we can make all this better." Hawkeye said hoping she could tell he was at least sincere about wanting to get her back to camp.

"Okay, but you have to do something for me first," Gaby asked, her tone of voice suddenly shifting from one of anger, moments ago, to one that was sweet, warm and flirtatious.

"I'll try," Hawkeye said, not prepared to promise her anything.

"Okay, sit down with me a minute." She said, as she sat on the dusty ground. Hawkeye looked around for a minute, feeling a little silly, but he did sit next to her. "Now, you have to close your eyes and I'm going to put something in your hand, but no peeking."

Hawkeye was reluctant to close his eyes and she could tell. "It's a picture I want to show you." She explained.

Still feeling reluctant to do so, but realizing it was calming her down, he closed his eyes and held a hand out. She touched his hand with her soft, delicate fingers and moved his hand so it was on the ground, palm up. "You really will love this." She said.

She reached round to her back pocket and pulled the surprise out of her pocket carefully. "Are you ready?" She asked. Hawkeye nodded his head.

She slipped the protective cover from the end of the scalpel and watched as she plunged the razor-sharp instrument into Hawkeye's hand.

~

The Jeep stopped at the 4077th and Margaret got out quickly and made her way straight to Colonel Potter 's office. She wanted to see him first before she had to speak to anyone else. Klinger wasn't anywhere around so after looking through the door and seeing the Colonel was alone, she made her way through.

She noticed she startled the Colonel a little on her entry, but when he saw her he quickly had a smile on his face.

"Margaret, I'm so glad you're back. Take a seat." Margaret did what the Colonel said. "How's your father?"

"He's going to be fine. It wasn't as serious as they first suspected when I received the call. He just needs to rest for a while and give up some of his bad habits." Margaret wiped her eyes from the tears that had appeared there. She hadn't been able to talk to anyone close to her about this for so long that she'd just held all her emotions in. She could have called but it was so impersonal she decided it was better to wait.

Colonel Potter handed a handkerchief over to her, which she gratefully excepted and dabbed her eyes with it. "How have things been here?" she asked, sniffing a little.

"They've been better. A lot better." The Colonel stood up and made his way over to his drinks cabinet, taking out a bottle of scotch and two glasses. He poured both himself and Margaret a drink and he proceeded to drink his before he spoke again. "There was an incident here yesterday afternoon." He began. Margaret immediately put her drink back down, not feeling as strong as she did moments ago. "Nurse Rose... attacked Captain Pierce."

Margaret waited for him to continue, but he didn't immediately, giving himself a few seconds. It made her feel even more nervous than she already did. She couldn't believe nurse Rose had attacked anyone, let alone Hawkeye, she'd seemed so close to him.

Although it seemed like forever, a few moments later the Colonel continued speaking. "We've called Sidney Freedman, he's going to come and talk to her, but I think she'll probably end up going with him. She's a very troubled lady."

"What about Hawkeye?" She asked anxiously, no longer able to stand the suspense.

"Well, he's okay." The Colonel said slowly. "He's quite cut up. Everybody's a little shook up from this. Staff attacking one another like this is thankfully very rare."

"Where is he, post-op, the swamp? Margaret asked, already standing up to leave.

"Hold on, Margaret," he said, "Just sit back down for a minute, he's not going anywhere. He's getting some rest right now which he needs. He's had a rough couple of days and I want him to just get as much downtime as he can. Plus, we've been quiet on the wounded front for a while now and when they start rolling in, he's gonna have trouble operating, so the least I can do is make sure he's well-rested. I'll tell you what. Freshen yourself up and maybe by lunchtime, he'll be awake. If not, you can see BJ and Charles and I'm sure they can give you the rundown on everything he's done in the last few hours."

Margaret didn't say anything at first, she just couldn't believe all that she'd heard. It just hadn't sunk in yet. Finally, she managed to find her voice again. "You're right, Colonel. That sounds like the best thing to do." She stood once again and turned to leave the office.

The Colonel stopped her before she left. "Margaret, he'll be fine." he reassured, then added, "And, I'm sure glad you're father's gonna be okay too."

Margaret seemed like she was the first person to get to the mess tent for lunch, although there were a few others already there.

The swamp had the more protective winter sides attached, she assumed for Hawkeye's privacy. Korea was at the in-between stage right now, winter had yet to arrive, but summer was defiantly over.

She had purposely sat so that she could watch who was coming into the tent.

She watched Klinger as he headed over to the swamp and she was willing him to be quiet and not wake Hawkeye up, even though she was keen to see him. It was a few minutes before Klinger reappeared and he headed for the mess tent.

He saw Margaret and after pouring himself a coffee, he joined her at the table.

"Hey, Major. I'm real happy to hear your dad's gonna be okay?" He said.

Although Margaret had disapproved of Klingers numerous attempts to get out of the Army with a section 8, when it came down to it he was not only a good person, but he also worked extremely hard to do what had to be done.

"Thank you, Corporal." She replied. She felt a little awkward for a moment, not sure what to say but then she noticed Charles and BJ heading to the mess tent. She immediately looked forward to them arriving so she could hear how Pierce was.

After they got in, they both spotted her and Klinger sitting at the table and the two men shared a few words before Charles came over to join them while BJ went to get some food.

"Margaret, I'm so very glad you're back," Charles said, sitting next to Margaret.

"That's kind of you, Charles," she said.

Klinger got up just then. "Excuse me, I have to get back to work," he said as he left the mess tent and went back to his duties.

"So, tell me how's Hawkeye?" She said, not being able to hold in her question any longer.

"Well, he's not too bad," Charles said. He wanted her to know the truth and he knew that in circumstances such as these, the mind could work over-time. "Most things are awkward and painful for him right now but of course Hunnicutt is nearly always on hand to take care of him. He's not seriously hurt, it's just... awkward." He felt the need to re-emphasis.

"Well, how did it happen, has he said?" Margaret asked.

"From what I can gather, she got mad about something and walked off camp so he followed her to try to bring her back. He said she was like two different people from one moment to the next. She was in a furious mood and then she was... well, how she always appeared to be, nice. Apparently, she told him she had a photo to show him and asked him to hold his hand out. Unfortunately the photo she had turned out to be a scalpel." Charles made a little gesture of someone stabbing a knife into someone's hand to illustrate the situation for her.

"My, God!" Margaret exclaimed, "What happened after that?"

"Well, thankfully he was a lot stronger than she was and he managed to overpower her, although she still had hold of the scalpel and managed to... use it a few more times, but he managed to get it off her and he half carried, half dragged her back to the camp. I have to admit that my heart all but jumped in my throat when I saw him coming back. She was screaming and there was blood all over..." Charles remembered it all too clearly. His first thought was that Rose had been shot what with her screams but it quickly dawned on him that Pierce was the one who was hurt.

Margaret placed her hand on Charles' "It must have been very hard for you all here." She said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw BJ move and get some coffee. She gestured to BJ before asking "How's he doing?"

"He's fine, as long as he's not away from him too long," Charles smirked a little. Although he wouldn't admit it, he'd not left the swamp much, even if all he did was sit in there and read, he just felt better being there. "He's taking Pierce's lunch to him now. Pierce is keen to get out, it's driving him mad being stuck in there all day. He's sort of been forced to have bed rest by the Colonel, bathroom breaks are the only thing he's allowed to leave for. Plus, he can't carry a tray comfortable and it'll just aggravate his injuries, so he may as well have Hunnicutt do it for him. Although I do think he won't be able to stand much more of it in there and he'll just end leaving."

"I wonder when I'll be able to see him?" Margaret said. She watched as BJ nodded his head in her direction as she left and he gave her a big grin.

"All in good time, Margaret. I'm sure after Pierce has had some lunch he could use some good company."

~

Hawkeye looked around the swamp for something to do. He was incredibly bored.

It was bad enough when there was nothing to do, but when you couldn't even leave the tent it cut out the possibilities a lot more.

BJ had gone to return Hawkeye's tray to the mess tent and Hawkeye had insisted that BJ stay over there and eat his lunch. The last few days he'd always brought it over and as nice as it was that BJ cared so much, Hawkeye could feel the man grating on his last nerve right now.

There was a knock at the door and he called for them to enter. He was happy to see Margaret enter the room. She smiled nervously at him.

"Hey, Margaret. I've heard that your dad's going to be okay and I'm really happy for you." He said.

She perched on the end of his cot. "Yes, I think he'll be okay once he gets some rest. I really was scared for him though."

"Well, that's understandable. As long as he listens to the advice his given I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Well I have to admit, it's really made me think about things," Margaret said.

"I bet," Hawkeye said. He understood how frightened she felt. He'd feel the same if anything happened to his father.

"I don't think you understand. I don't just mean about my father, I mean about me as well. About how my life's going and what the future holds for me." Margaret explained. "I always thought that this, the Army, was my whole life. I've never considered anything else because this is what I've known. Well, maybe it's not for me. I look at my parents and their divorce and I wonder more and more whether the Army had a large part to play in that."

"Margaret, you're going to feel like that. You've just had a scare. It's not uncommon for people who have been in a stressful situation to start re-evaluating their lives." Hawkeye said.

"I know that. But, I think that maybe I could have more if I wasn't being quite so... picky."

"Picky?" Hawkeye repeated.

"Oh, you know it's true. I used to think that I needed to be with important officers to be satisfied. All those generals they were all out of desperation. Most of those men were old enough to be my father. I don't really know what I was thinking with Frank, well, I do. I was thinking about how wonderful he was because he was strict in the sense I liked. You and Trapper were always right about him, he was a rotten surgeon, but to me, it didn't matter. He was a military man and that overshadowed everything else about him that stunk. Including his wife. And kids."

"He wasn't always that bad," Hawkeye said. It was hard to try to defend Frank he wasn't the easiest person to write a pro's list about.

Margaret gave Hawkeye a look. "Okay, he was awful. But, you were young and impressionable."

"Well, I'm not sure about that. But look after Frank, Donald was a wretch of a man. Why do you think I liked him. Do you think I got to know him first or do you think he heard about my reputation? Hotlips sounds like a fun person, right?" Hawkeye chose not to answer, just let Margaret vent her frustrations about life. "Donald thought he could marry me and still have fun when I wasn't around. And Scully. Boy, he took the biscuit. He didn't even have a good rank last time I saw him."

"Margaret, you're not thinking rationally," Hawkeye said. He shifted down his cot so he was closer to her. "You've had a scare. Don't beat yourself about the fact that your fathers been ill."

"It's not all I'm feeling bad about." She said, looking at him and touching his arm where it was bandaged. "I never should have said those things to you and I never should have hit you," Margaret said. "I'm truly sorry."

"Well, you're forgiven already. I shouldn't have said what I did either." Hawkeye said.

"There's a little more I need to say," Margaret said. "I was insanely jealous when you and Gaby became close and the reason was because of the way I feel about you."

Hawkeye looked a little surprised by what she was saying.

"We've got close, sometimes too close for our own good. But I know that if I'd never meet you, I wouldn't be the person I am today and I wouldn't have the self-awareness to realize that I need you in my life."

Hawkeye looked a little embarrassed. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"No, I don't give you enough credit. You really have changed my life. I'm not as keen as I once was to stay in the Army and I think that after the war, I'd like to get back into the real world. I won't be a major and you won't be a captain and I thought we may get on a little better when ranks and Army discipline are not in the way any more. It's something to think about."

"Are you saying what you think you're saying?" Hawkeye asked.

"What I'm saying, Pierce is, once we've got out of Korea, look me up." Margaret smiled broadly. Hawkeye laughed out loud.

"Okay, it's a date." He said. He lent over to her and kissed her on the side of her face. "You won't forget will you?"

"I promise. I'll write it in my diary." Margaret said.

"I can't believe I've finally got a date with Margaret Houlihan," Hawkeye said.

"Just one thing," she said. "Promise me you won't go out with any other nurses while we're still here."

"I promise. You know some of them are dangerous." They both laughed and looked forward to the end of the war for another reason now.


End file.
